Welcome to the Norfolk Island Museum's blog. We are lucky to be located in the most beautiful part of a stunning island in the South Pacific. We are a little island, but our history and stories are great - from Polynesian and convict settlements to the home of the Bounty mutineers. Hopefully you'll enjoy our stories.

Thursday, November 3, 2016

The Norfolk Island Museum and
Research Centre welcome historian Cathy Dunn and her ‘History Lovers Group’ to
the island this week.During this time
Cathy has offered to present her latest lecture on research techniques and
records for Norfolk Island 1788 -1814, a lecture that has been well received at
the Society
of Australian Genealogists this past week.

Cathy will take you on a
journey back to the first British Settlement of Norfolk Island, providing
insight into the archives and records that are available, where copies are kept
and what can be found online, a fantastic learning opportunity for budding
genealogists or history enthusiasts.

A professional family
historian, author, tour guide, heritage and public history consultant, a visit
to her website www.australianhistoryresearch.info will illustrate the breadth
of her knowledge.This period of Norfolk
Island’s history has been a study focus for Cathy for many years evidenced by
her many visits to the island, presentations and publications.

The lecture is presented at the Research Centre, No. 9 Quality Row,
Monday 7 November, 9am – 10.30am at a cost of $20 per person.Seats are limited so booking is
necessary.Contact the museum on 23788
to book your seat.

We are pleased to announce the Norfolk Island Museum (NIM) has
been awarded funding through the 2016 Community Heritage Grants (CHG) Program
to provide for a Preservation Needs Assessment.This funding is by the Australian Government
through the National Library of Australia and its partners; the Department of
Communications and the Arts; the National Archives of Australia; the National
Film and Sound Archive and the National Museum of Australia.

We have been fortunate for this Program in past years
providing the Norfolk Island Museum with the capacity to undertake a variety of
important projects including; the 2015 Significance Assessment, Conservation of
the Bounty Cannon Project, Disaster Management Planning and opportunities for
professional development, to name just a few.

A Preservation Needs Assessment will provide key
recommendations for the short, medium and long term management of the
collections in our care.It will assess
existing policies and their impact on the collection, broadly outline the types
of objects in the collection and their condition, examine building and
environment, storage and display, visitor impact, disaster preparedness as well
as training and skills.The outcome will
be prioritised recommendations for a Preservation or ‘Action’ Plan. Also and importantly, it will be the key tool
to support future grant applications for conservation projects and planning to
protect the collections for the future.

The Grant Agreement specifies the assessment must be
undertaken by a qualified conservator therefore we have engaged the services of
Sue Valis, Conservator at the Queensland Museum to undertake the task.Sue is currently based at the Museum of
Tropical Queensland in Townsville where the artefacts from the wreck of the HMS
Pandora are held, this was the ship
sent from England to capture the HMAV Bounty
mutineers, then on its return voyage became shipwrecked off the coast of
Queensland where tragically 34 lives were lost.Her experience includes conservation and
collection management of a diverse range of collection material in various
locations.She has spent many years
providing support and advice to museums in regional areas and is very much
looking forward to visiting us here on Norfolk to complete the Preservation
Needs Assessment.

We are grateful for our successful application to the
Community Heritage Grants Program, this year there was a strong field of 172
applications whereby 77 organisations were offered a grant.Our thanks go to the grant panel, the
National Library of Australia and its partners for our selection.

The Australian Society of Marine Artists (ASMA)
is a body of diverse artists and others interested in marine and maritime art,
every painting style is represented amongst its members from traditional to
contemporary, realist to abstract.Local
artist Tracey Yager was invited to become an exhibiting member of this
prestigious Society.

There are specific membership categories and
entry requirements for this Society and membership is by selection only.Tracey is honoured to have been selected and
invited to become not only a member, but to be conferred with an Exhibiting
Membership, this enables Tracey to take advantage of her recognition by this
Society by using the letters ASMA after her name and her artwork may be
exhibited in the Society’s exhibitions.

This National organisation has a rich mixture of
expertise and interests supporting its members by promoting maritime and marine
art in Australia.This year marks the 20th
anniversary of the Society and to celebrate this occasion they are holding an
Exhibition hosted by the Royal Art Society of NSW at their Lavender Bay Art
Gallery in Sydney until 30 October.This
exhibition features two of Tracey’s artworks.

Tracey flew to Sydney for the opening and said,
“I’m pretty excited that my works are being exhibited at the Royal Art Society
of NSW Art Gallery, it’s a beautiful heritage building in such a gorgeous
location in Lavender Bay.On the night
of the opening we travelled to the gallery via ferry and walked up through
Wendy Whitely’s Secret Garden – such an inspiring beautiful journey.The gallery was full to the brim and the
standard of art work was very high.I
was lucky to have a crew of Norfolk people there as support, it really made it
a very special night”.

In 2011 Tracey attended the extremely popular
MyState Australian Wooden Boat Festival in Hobart and wanted to become
involved, by 2015 she had won the poster competition for that year’s festival
and became an exhibiting artist with her work featuring small, lovingly built
wooden craft at work, rest and play.These artworks can be seen on her website at www.traceyyager.com.It is her involvement in this
festival that led to the selection and invitation to become an Exhibiting
Member of ASMA.

One of the artworks selected for the exhibition
at the Royal Art Society is titled ‘Unloading the Norfolk Guardian’ depicting
the newly constructed lighter No.3 at work alongside Cascade Pier.Throughout 2014/15 the Norfolk Island Museum
Trust suggested and supported a project to document the construction of this
newest addition to Norfolk’s lighterage fleet.The construction was undertaken by local John Christian Bailey and his
team.Our photographic record starts
with a stack of timber, shaped into bare boat ribs, eventually becoming a
skilfully constructed craft.It was
‘dunked’ into the water to season its timbers and the following day it was put
to work unloading the ship.Now, we can
see it beautifully depicted in this fabulous watercolour.Tracey stated that she felt it was important
to capture this scene at Cascade Pier as an historical record of the Pier, as
it was, prior to the commencement of work that will see it extended, heightened
and strengthened.

Tracey’s other piece in this exhibition titled
‘Tender of Friendly Light’ represents a small clinker style wooden boat
tethered beside a yacht, it speaks of light and shade with a sublime use of
colour and a stunning reflection on water.

Maritime art illustrates the history of our
world from almost the beginning of time, a powerful medium providing us with an
interpretation of social commentary, trade, travel, war and more; in addition
to a presentation of beauty or curiosity.Norfolk Island by nature and culture abounds with a history connected to
the sea.We are very fortunate for such
an accomplished artist to capture our Island’s maritime heritage.Congratulations Tracey.